Pyramid
OPENING SPIEL ($10,000 Pyramid Only): Keep your eye on this spot, for you are about to see one celebrity and one contestant step into this circle, for a chance to win $10,000, in less than a minute. Ladies & Gentlemen, this is the $10,000 Pyramid. Today's Special Guests are: (insert names of celebrities). And now, here's your host, Dick Clark! OPENING SPIEL (1970s through 1980s): (Clips of past bonus round winners) (From Television City in Hollywood,) This is the ($10,000/$20,000/$25,000/$50,000/$100,000) Pyramid. Today's Special Guests are: (insert names of celebrities). Your host is/And now, here's your host, Dick Clark/Bill Cullen! OPENING SPIEL (1991) This is the Winner's Circle. This is where someone is guaranteed to win $100,000. From Television City in Hollywood, this is The $100,000 Pyramid. Today, Our Special Guests are: (insert names of celebrities). Your host is/And now, here's your host, John Davidson! OPENING SPIEL (2002-2004): (Insert names of celebrities), Today on Pyramid. And now, here's the host of Pyramid, Donny Osmond! Based loosely off Password, this is a show where you have to get your partner to say a word by describing it. Gameplay Main Game The game is played with two teams of two players (consisting of one celebrity & one contestant) in a game of word communication. Each game starts with the introduction of six categories arranged in a pyramid. In the main game, a category's position on the pyramid was not an indicator of its difficulty. The categories were usually puns hinting to the content within that subject (i.e. "I'd Like to Buy a Vowel" would contain things associated with Wheel of Fortune). Each team in turn chose a category, and then a subject under that category was given. Each subject has seven words/phrases/names. The team had 30 seconds to guess the seven answers that fit into the category. One player described each item while the other player tried to guess what the words are. Each correct word was worth one point. When a word was passed, it cannot be returned to, but if the guesser can guess the word already passed, the team still scored (not possible in Donny Osmond's version, as unguessed words had to be returned to in order to count). If at any time the clue giver gave away any part of the answer or conveyed the essence of the answer, a cuckoo sounded (burble in the Donny Osmond's version) and the word was thrown out. Each team had three turns with the celebrities giving first in round one, the contestants giving in round two, and in round three they decided amongst themselves on who's giving and who's receiving. In the event that a celebrity was paired with a visually-impaired contestant, the celebrities gave clues in all rounds. The team with the most points won the game. {C} PYR 14.PNG|The category board from The $10,000 Pyramid. Looks like a traffic cone, doesn't it? PYR 01.PNG|Sandy Duncan helping her contestant partner in the main game from 1973. PYR 15.png|The blue-and-red board from 1979. PYR 02.PNG|A contestant giving clues to David Letterman from the late 70s. PYR 16.png|The more well-known category board from the CBS version. PYR 03.PNG|Jamie Farr and a contestant playing the main game from 1985. PYR 17.png|The category board with the rather unnecessary monitors from the John Davidson version. Jason.jpg|Jason Alexander giving clues to a contestant from 1991. Note the triangle. The 100k Pyramid Monitors.PNG|The Category Board with the improved monitors from the John Davidson version. 100k.PNG|Beth Maitland giving clues to her partner. PYR 13.PNG|The Category Board from the Donny Osmond series. Got to love the bottom-right one. PYR 04.PNG|A contestant giving clues to Dick Clark himself from 2002. Alterations *'$10,000 Pyramid' - In the beginning on CBS there were eight words, but when the show moved to ABC it was reduced to the traditional seven. *'$20,000 Pyramid' - Any team who achieved a perfect score of 21 points won a $1,000 bonus (a bonus prize in the final season). *'$25,000 Pyramid' - During the 1977-78 season of the Cullen shows, any team who achieved a perfect score of 21 points won a $2,100 bonus. *'$100,000 Pyramid' - During the John Davidson run, there was a triangle next to certain words. That signified that it was the last word in the list of seven. *'Pyramid' - When Donny Osmond hosted the show, the number of words was lowered to six, and the time was reduced to 20 seconds. A burble signified that the giver gave an unacceptable clue. *'The Pyramid' - Every time a player gets 7/7, he/she win $500. Special Bonuses At some point in the game, a team would uncover a special item behind one category prompting a bonus situation. To win the bonus, the team had to get all the answers right. In situations where a team can win the game without needing all the answers or has won the game automatically, if the last category concealed a bonus, the team was allowed to play all the way out in order to win the bonus. The $50,000 Pyramid & GSN's The Pyramid have no such bonuses. *'Big 7' - This was the show's mainstay for the entire 70s run. It premiered in December 1974 (7 months after the show moved to ABC), and during the second season of the Cullen run. The team that exposed the Big 7 had 30 seconds to get all seven and win $500 (originally a trip). During the Cullen run it had two bonus prizes: the first was $1,000 during the second season, and the second was a new car during the final season. On the $20,000 Pyramid, if a team had 14 points, and the final category was the "Big 7", getting all seven answers added the "Big 7" bonus to the "Perfect 21" bonus, making it worth $1,500, or $500 and a bonus prize during the final season. PYR 05.PNG|Orange & Black Big 7 Vlcsnap-2012-04-06-00h09m04s176.png|Blue & Red Big 7 *'Big Money Card' - This was only shown in the Cullen run from 1976-1978. A random cash amount between $1,000 and $5,000 ($1,000-$4,000 during the 1977-1978 season) was hidden behind a category. Whatever the amount exposed, that's the amount the contestant was playing for by getting all seven. During the 1977-1978 season, the only nighttime season to have the "Perfect 21" (for $2,100), should the team have a score of 14 points, prior to getting the "Big Money Card", getting all seven won both bonuses, worth between $3,100-$6,100. PYR 06.png Vlcsnap-2012-04-06-00h14m18s249.png vlcsnap-2012-05-30-22h43m31s45.png *'7-11' - This was the show's mainstay for the entire 80s run. It premiered in April 1983 on CBS. The team that exposed the 7-11 had 30 seconds to get all seven and win a cash bonus of $1,100. When it first premiered, the contestant had a choice between going for the $1,100 or play it safe and play for $50 a correct answer; this rule lasted until 1/18/85. It existed on the John Davidson version as well, but on April 12, it was scrapped in favor of Gamble for a Grand. 7-11 Close-Up.jpg|A close-up shot of the 7-11 PYR 08.png|The 7-11 is last but highly not least. Vlcsnap-2012-04-06-00h28m37s129.png|But here, the 7-11 appeared right off the bat on John Davidson's first day as Pyramid host. *'Mystery 7' - Like the 7-11, this was the show's mainstay for the entire 80s run. It was always played in the second game. The team that found the Mystery 7 had a chance to win a special prize. It's called the Mystery 7 because the category was not told until after it was done. The team had the usual 30 seconds to get all seven words. In its early existence, the Mystery 7 was in plain sight as the last category on the main game Pyramid board. It was mostly chosen first by the contestant who lost the first game, which mostly led to having the Mystery 7 be hidden away. It existed on the John Davidson version as well, except that with Double Trouble involved, this can be played in either game. The Mystery 7 was finally no more during the final two months of the run after Gamble for a Grand came into effect. Early_Mystery_7.jpg|A close-up of the old look of the Mystery 7. Quickly it changed from blue to white. PYR 07.png|Under the new rules, it is now hidden away. Here, it's exposed behind the next to last category chosen. vlcsnap-2012-04-06-00h38m02s155.png|Here's the Mystery 7 during John Davidson's era, but still on trilons. PYR 10.png|Same scenario in this picture as do the previous one. Note the monitors. *'Double Trouble' - This was only played in the Davidson version and was played in either game. It premiered on January 8. This category had its seven answers be two words long. The team had 45 seconds instead of 30 to get all seven two word answers. Getting all seven answers won $500. There were two Double Trouble categories in the game whenever it appeared; each team only gets one giving both teams a chance at $500. Vlcsnap-2012-04-06-00h31m03s58.png|Double Trouble on trilons PYR 11.png|Double Trouble on monitors *'Gamble for a Grand/Trip' - This was the Davidson version's replacement for the 7-11 and later the Mystery 7. This was where the team that found it can decide to give up five seconds of time (making the time 25 seconds) for a chance to win $1,000 in cash or a trip. Vlcsnap-2012-06-15-16h15m25s251.png|Gamble For a Grand vlcsnap-2012-04-06-00h36m10s54.png|Gamble on trilons. PYR 09.png|Gamble on monitors. *'Super Six' - This was only shown on the Donny Osmond version since all categories required six words in 20 seconds and it was always played in both games. The team that exposed the Super Six had 20 seconds to get all six and win a prize. PYR 12.png Player of the Week In the $50,000 Pyramid and for three weeks in 1983 on The New $25,000 Pyramid the player who had the fastest time of the week won a trip (in the $50,000 Pyramid it was a European getaway; in 1983 it was a trip to Greece). Tie-Breakers If the game ended in a tie, the game shifted into a tie-breaker situation. The team that caused the tie had a choice between two letters leaving the other for the other team. Both teams had 30 seconds to get as many of the seven items beginning with their letter(s) as they can. The team that got the most out of seven won the game. 70s & 2002 Pyramids The teams continued building on their scores using the tie-breaker categories. This caused an achievement of very rare high scores. Extra ties kept the game going, and as soon as the tie was broken, the game was over. In the 2002 Pyramid, the team that scored six points in the fastest time won the game. On the Cullen run, if the tiebreakers precluded playing a second Winner's Circle, the one who won the tiebreaker earned $2,500. By the end, the later rules had been established. 80s & 90s Pyramids The teams' scores were erased and each team played their 30 second round of seven answers each. The team that got the most out of seven won the game. If both teams got seven, the team with the fastest time was declared the winner. If the game ended in a 21-21 tie, the team that broke the tie won $5,000 (originally a car) to the contestant. The John Davidson version didn't have that rule. The Pyramid There are more than seven words in each category. High score wins. ---- The winning team went over to the Winner's Circle for a grand cash prize. Starting with the move to ABC in 1974, the contestant on the winning team even had choice as to who would give and who would receive. Winner's Circle The giver of the winning team faced a larger pyramid board of six subjects with the guesser having his/her back to the board. The winning team had 60 seconds to climb up to the top of the pyramid by getting all six. On each subject, the giver gave a list of items that fit the subject while the guesser tried to guess what they all have in common. As soon as the guesser gets the right subject or passed, they moved on to the next subject to the right. Upon a pass, the team can come back to it if there's time leftover though the guesser can still get the subject without going back to it (not possible in the Donny Osmond version). If at any time the giver gave an illegal clue (giving away part of the answer, conveying the essence of the answer, descriptions of the category or a synonym) a buzzer would sound (the same burble from the main game in Donny Osmond's version), the subject was re-concealed and the team forfeited the chance at the big money. Starting in the ABC version, the giver was discouraged from using his/her hands which is why they were strapped into the chair, and starting in the 2nd CBS version prepositional phrases were also outlawed. Even though the big money was forfeited, the team can still go for the other subjects, because when time ran out, the contestant still won money attached to the subjects guessed; of course, getting all six in 60 seconds without illegal clues won the grand cash prize. Payoffs Consolation Money Here are the amounts for each subject according to the versions: Grand Cash Prizes Here are the grand cash prizes for going up to the top of the Pyramid: *'The $10,000 Pyramid' - All trips to the Winner's circle were worth $10,000. *'The $20,000 Pyramid' - The first trip was worth $10,000, the second was worth $15,000, and the third and all future trips were worth $20,000. Winning here at any point augmented the player's prior winnings to the grand prize. *'The (New) $25,000 Pyramid' - The first trip was worth $10,000, and the second trip was worth a total of $25,000 ($10,000 win in the first WC means the second is worth $15,000). During the Cullen version, if a player won a bonus, then won both Winners' Circles, they would be absorbed into the $25,000 (IOW, if someone won a car, the value of the car would be removed from the cash winnings). *'The $50,000 Pyramid' - The first trip was worth $5,000, and the second trip was worth a total of $10,000. In the finals of tournament games, all trips were worth $50,000. *'The $100,000 Pyramid' - Same as the (New) $25,000 Pyramid except in tournament games where all trips were worth $100,000. *'Pyramid' - The first trip was worth $10,000, and should they win the first bonus round, the second was worth $15,000 for a total of $25,000. *'The Pyramid - '''Each 7/7 adds $5,000 to the WC prize, which starts at $10,000, and could reach as much as $25,000. PYR 19.PNG|Winner's Circle in progress from 1973. Notice that the giver (Sandy Duncan in this pic) is using her hands. PYR 20.PNG|By 1975, the giver must keep his or her hands in the straps while giving clues. PYR 21.PNG|The bonus round in progress from the 1980s. PYR 22.PNG|The bonus round in progress from 2002, using different camera angles and straight cuts. PYR 23.PNG|$10,000 win from the early 1970s. PYR 24.PNG|Another $10,000 win from the early 1970s, complete with cheesy graphic. Billy Raises His Hands.jpg|Billy Crystal’s record: 26 seconds! imagesCA5OASOA.jpg|William Shatner is messing up here. PYR 25.PNG|$10K win from the late 1970s. PYR 26.PNG|A $50K Pyramid win from 1981. PYR 27.PNG|A good ol' $25K win from the mid-1980s. PYR 28.PNG|An even better $100K win from 1987. PYR 29.PNG|A $10K win from 2002. Game/Championship Formats In the 70s daytime version until 1980, contestants who didn't make it to the top returned to play the next game. If they do make it to the top and win the grand cash prize, they retire from the show. Also games straddled at that time, so whenever there's no time for the second Winner's Circle on that day's show, the second Winner's Circle would be played at the top of the next show. On Friday shows, if the second game ended in a tie but there was no time for one more Winner's Circle round, the celebrities of the week would team up to play the Winner's Circle themselves. Any money won by the celebrities was split between the contestants, and if they win, their contestant partners split $5,000 between them. In the syndicated versions, 80s CBS version, and GSN's version, each episode was made self-contained for it had the contestants play two games every show. During the CBS version & $100,000 versions, any money won from the Winner's Circle was used as score money not counting bonuses. The player with the most money or won both games returned to play the next show. If the show ended in a tie both contestants returned to play the next show. Contestants retired after five wins while in the CBS version they retired after winning the $25,000 since it was the network's winnings limit; when the limit was raised to $50,000 in '84 and $75,000 in '86, contestants were required to stay a little while longer until they get enough $25,000 wins to retire or win the usual five games. Tournaments On The $50,000 Pyramid, the player with the fastest time in the front game during that week was called The Player Of The Week, won two round-trip tickets to Europe and qualified for the $50,000 tournament. This explained why the clock counted ''up (00 to 30) instead of down (30 to 00). There were two such tournaments. The first was held starting on March 23, 1981 and the other beginning on May 25, 1981. The quarterfinals were played on Monday and Tuesday. The winner of each game would advance to the semifinals after playing the Pyramid for $5,000. On Wednesday and Thursday, each match would have two semifinalists playing two games against each other with players winning one game playing for $5,000, and players winning both games in the same show playing for a total of $10,000. Whoever won the most money would compete in the finals. The losing players from the semifinals competed in a 'wild card' match. Starting the following Monday, two finalists played one game and the winner played the Winner's Circle for $50,000. If the grand prize was not won, that player played the next game against the finalist who sat out the previous game. On both versions of The $100,000 Pyramid, the three players who won the Winner's Circle in the shortest time during a given period of shows (usually 13 weeks) returned on later episodes to compete in a tournament. The players alternated in a round-robin, with two players competing each day and the third player replacing the loser of that episode in the next one, if neither player won the Winner's Circle that day (in the event of a tie, a coin toss was used to determine who returned on the next show). The first player to win the Winner's Circle won $100,000 and ended the tournament. If a $100,000 win happened in the first game of the show, the two remaining players played the second game for a possible $10,000. No bonus cards were in play during a tournament, although the $5,000 bonus for a 21-21 tie remained intact on the 1980s version. On the Osmond version, the rules were changed drastically to being played between either four or six players who won $25,000 in their initial appearance (which, due to the above requirements and a lack of returning champions, made qualification difficult), with two tournaments played each season. During a six-player tournament, each contestant's first attempt at the Winner's Circle was worth $25,000. If $25,000 was won in the first half and the same player returned to the Winner's Circle, that contestant played for an additional $75,000 and the tournament title. If the tournament ended with no players able to win both Winner's Circles in one show, either the contestant who won $25,000 in the fastest time or the player who won the most money would have his or her tournament winnings augmented to $100,000. In a four-player tournament, contestants competed in single elimination, with the first two semifinalists competing on day one and the other two semifinalists on day two. Each attempt at the Winner's Circle was worth $25,000. The top two winners then returned to compete in the finals, where each Winner's Circle victory that day was worth an additional $50,000. A tournament sweep would be worth $150,000. Music ($10,000, $20,000, $25,000 (weekly) $50,000 Pyramid) - "Tuning Up" by Ken Aldin ($25,000, $100,000) by Bob Cobert 2002 by Barry Baylock & John Coffing Inventor Bob Stewart Trivia *In the 1973 pilot, the Winner's Circle round required 10 subjects (with the four on the bottom worth $25) instead of six to be guessed, but producer Bob Stewart realized how extremely difficult it would be to achieve, so a large piece of plywood was added to the giant pyramid to cover up the four on the bottom. Future versions had no covering seeing that they all have six boxes on their pyramids. *The fastest celebrity to make it to the top of the pyramid was Billy Crystal at 26 seconds. *The theme song "Tuning Up" for the early versions of Pyramid was used on a 1995 Saturday Night Live game show parody sketch entitled "You Think You're Better Than Me?" *The highest total given away in the history of Pyramid was $150,800. *A new version of Pyramid called "The $1,000,000 Pyramid" was scheduled for the CBS 2009 Fall premiere replacing the now cancelled soap opera Guiding Light, but was bumped off in favor of the new "Let's Make a Deal". It has been reconsidered for the CBS 2010 Fall premiere replacing the now cancelled As the World Turns, only to get bumped off once more, this time by a new CBS daytime talk show called "The Talk", hosted by Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete, and Sharon Osbourne. A third pilot, now called "The $500,000 Pyramid" was filmed for TBS and was not picked up. Recently, a fourth pilot was made and using the 80s syndicated top amount this time for GSN; GSN passed up a Pyramid pilot prior to this. Finally, after three previous unsuccessful tries (two on the same network) Pyramid is finally returning to television. The new show will premiere on September third of this year. Spin-Offs & Similar Shows Junior Pyramid - Kids' version ran in 1979 Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak - Similar show aired in 1986 Taboo - Similar show aired from 2002-2003 Merchandise Box games based on the $10,000, $20,000, and $50,000 Pyramids were made in 8 editions by Milton Bradley from 1974-81. A box game by Cardinal Games was released in 1986, and was based on both the $25,000 and $100,000 Pyramids hosted by Dick Clark. A Commodore 64 and DOS version was released based on The $100,000 Pyramid by Box Office in 1988. A PC CD-ROM game was released based on The $100,000 Pyramid by Sierra. 2 home games were released in 2000 and 2003 by Endless Games. The 2000 edition was based on the 1982 version and the 2003 edition was based on the Donny Osmond version. Endless Games also released a $1,000,000 Pyramid card game as part of their "Quick Picks" line in 2008. A DVD game was released. A video game furnished by Ludia is currently in development. Links Xanfan's Pyramid Page Xanfan's older Pyramid Page {C}Information on the 70s Pyramid {C}Josh Rebich's Pyramid Rulesheets Category:Word Games Category:Puzzle Category:Long-Running Category:CBS shows Category:ABC shows Category:Network shows Category:Network daytime shows Category:Daytime shows Category:Revivals Category:Bob Stewart-Sande Stewart Productions Category:1973 premieres